Chapter 2016 - 1594: Feigned Sleep, So She Won’t Feel Guilty

As she took the step forward, Gu Changsheng began to regret her decision!

She truly didn’t know how to face Shi Wujue at this moment, especially when he’s still so vulnerable...

However, since she had already stepped into the room, Duo Shu’s gaze instantly fell upon her. To turn back now would appear unnecessarily guilty!

This didn’t align with Gu Changsheng’s usual demeanor, so even if she had to force herself, Gu Changsheng could only keep moving forward. Besides, her beloved evildoer was right; the injury on Shi Wujue’s hand could not be postponed...

Walking in silence under Duo Shu’s watchful eyes, Gu Changsheng made her way to the bedside and realized she was overthinking...

Because...

Because Shi Wujue, who was lying on the bed, was already asleep!

His injured hand drooped by the bedside, and Shi Wujue’s breathing was very steady, his head slightly turned inward on the bed, his chest calmly rising and falling with his breath, looking very peaceful...

Upon seeing this, Gu Changsheng instantly let out a long-held breath and felt her heart relax!

Thankfully! Thankfully!

Shi Wujue was fine!

Just a little injury on the hand...

Though it looked fierce, it wasn’t fatal!

With Shi Wujue asleep, Gu Changsheng’s awkwardness vanished, and she efficiently treated the wound, as expected from a Divine Doctor, right?

Gu Changsheng’s reputation as a Divine Doctor wasn’t for nothing; it was genuine!

Duo Shu, with a gloomy demeanor, watched Gu Changsheng treat his master’s wound, his gaze continuously shifting between his master and Gu Changsheng, wanting to speak but ultimately restraining himself when he caught Zhou Mu’s scrutinizing gaze.

When he attempted to kill Gu Changsheng to accompany his master in death, this man did not stop him!

Duo Shu understood that Zhou Mu’s abilities far surpassed his own, and if Zhou Mu had wanted to stop him, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to threaten Gu Changsheng with a dagger!

Yet, Zhou Mu didn’t!

It was his master who reached out to stop him!

Duo Shu met Zhou Mu’s gaze, contemplating in silence...

This man was betting, waiting, wasn’t he?

Gu Changsheng had given his master no promises, and yet he seemed content? However, he was more composed than anyone else, calculating his master’s feelings for Gu Changsheng, waiting for the critical moment for his master to act and stop him?

Duo Shu had always known that this man, born into the Central Plains Imperial Family and favored by his master, surely possessed remarkable qualities. But he never realized the depth of this man’s intellect!

He was ambitious and astute, capable of patience and compromise!

He loved Gu Changsheng, yet when pressed, he chose to nod in agreement. He loved Gu Changsheng but didn’t want her caught in a dilemma, so when Gu Changsheng spoke words of rejection, he chose silence and patience!

Waiting for his master’s awakening, waiting for the impasse to resolve on its own!

This man possessed a wisdom uncommon among people, despite often being a near-invisible presence beside Gu Changsheng!

Like now, he knew full well his master wasn’t asleep, yet to prevent Gu Changsheng from feeling embarrassed and awkward, he interrupted Duo Shu’s attempt to speak with a mere glance!

This man!

He was truly a worthy rival for his master’s affections!

"Underestimating" no longer suffices to describe Duo Shu’s realization of Zhou Mu at this moment!

This was a man as extraordinary as a legendary hero, willing to become invisible for his beloved woman, constantly at her side, yet never drawing attention!

For the man he loved, he put aside his pride and arrogance, opting for compromise and tacit approval...

But why?

Why did the two most exceptional men Duo Shu had ever seen both fall in love with the same woman? And loved her so intensely, so deeply that it left no words, no criticism?

What was so special about Gu Changsheng?

Or was it, as his master said, that everything happened simply because it was her, so it had to be her?

At this moment, Duo Shu fell silent...

He was a shadow without the need for love, a guard facing someone else’s affection for the first time, unexpectedly finding it so twisting and tender, leaving one utterly baffled...

"The wound is treated. His hand mustn’t touch water for a few days. He seems to have suffered a shock to become like this. I’ll brew a calming potion for him. You stay here to look after him!" Having finished treating Shi Wujue’s hand, Gu Changsheng stood up, glanced at Shi Wujue, and spoke to Duo Shu.

Then, almost as if fleeing, Gu Changsheng did not dare to meet Duo Shu’s gaze from start to end, and swiftly exited the room.

Duo Shu watched Gu Changsheng leave, only snapping back to reality when Zhou Mu’s gaze turned to him.

"Take good care of him. If there’s anything, call for me." Leaving these words, Zhou Mu said nothing else, sending a significant look toward Shi Wujue on the bed before chasing after Gu Changsheng’s departing direction...

In the room, Shi Wujue and his attendant Duo Shu were left alone once more...

Duo Shu bent over by the bedside, unable to resist letting out a long sigh, looking at the unmoving Shi Wujue and asking, "Master, why pretend to sleep? They’re certainly not ordinary people, surely they know you’re feigning sleep..."

Yes!

Zhou Mu could sense that Shi Wujue was pretending to sleep, so how could Gu Changsheng not feel it?

Gu Changsheng’s strength actually surpassed all of them, having already transcended the Transformative Realm.

However, even though they clearly knew Shi Wujue was pretending to sleep, they wouldn’t expose him.

"I just... don’t want her to feel guilty, don’t want her to feel awkward..."

A faint voice, tinged with powerlessness, came from the bed.

Long lashes fluttered as Shi Wujue slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling...

Yuan Bao, who had just stepped in with a bowl of clear porridge, immediately felt shocked, looking incredulously at the bed upon hearing Shi Wujue’s words.

What did Shi Wujue and his servant just say?

It turns out that he wasn’t asleep at all?

And the reason for his pretended slumber was merely to avoid making his master feel awkward?

In that moment, Yuan Bao, who always viewed Shi Wujue as a rival to his master, suddenly felt a hint of sympathy for him!

He had witnessed everything Shi Wujue did for his master’s wife. Sometimes, Yuan Bao couldn’t understand why someone like Shi Wujue would love a woman who belonged to another with such humility. He was just a Little Eunuch, not quite versed in the matters of men and women, but in that moment, he seemed to grasp a little bit...

Some people love humbly because they seek but cannot have...

Just like Shi Wujue, he must know his master’s wife’s boundaries, know she won’t change her limits for anyone, know he ultimately won’t reach the outcome he desires, right?

Yet even so, he remains... committed and unwavering in his kindness towards her!

Sighing, Yuan Bao suddenly felt a slight change in his perspective as an observer. Under Duo Shu’s watchful gaze, he placed the wrinkled bowl on the small table beside the bed, and whether due to instinct or some other motive, he spoke out, "My master’s wife is brewing medicine, instructing me to bring this clear porridge over. You can’t take medicine on an empty stomach..."

In truth, Yuan Bao could have just left the porridge and gone on his way!

But for some reason, driven by some inexplicable force, Yuan Bao said those words.

Revealing his master’s wife’s concern for Shi Wujue!

As if, by doing so, Shi Wujue would feel a bit better...

And he himself would feel a bit better...

However, after uttering those words, Yuan Bao regretted it!

How could he sympathize with the rival of his master?

After all, this was a matter of stance!

Thus, Yuan Bao practically fled, leaving the porridge behind as he burst out the door!

The room fell into a brief silence, and Duo Shu didn’t know what to say...

This eerie silence was suffocating.

Duo Shu was at a loss on how to break the silence, to stop his master from feeling sad; he wasn’t a person skilled in words...

"Fufeng Tianlan said that I and Gu Changsheng are destined to stand on opposite sides, fated to be enemies... I don’t want to face the moment when the truth is revealed, confronting her with swords drawn..."

"Duo Shu, can you understand my intentions?"

Finally, it was Shi Wujue who broke the silence.

He spoke in a low voice, so resigned it bordered on despair, his voice frail, as if it could not withstand a single blow.

"Master..." Duo Shu heard, and his heart immediately tightened. His hand concealed beneath the black robe nearly clenched at the same time, a flicker of hatred flashing in his eyes!

Fufeng Tianlan!

That woman dared to say such words to his master!

She may have been overseeing the Goddess Palace for some time and seemingly forgot who it was that turned her glory and status from rags and begged her to this current grandeur!

She dared to utter such heart-cutting words to his master!

His master’s feelings for Gu Changsheng, she knew, she definitely knew, but so what?

She was merely the nominal fiancée of his master; her presence was just an indispensable Key for their Ancient Country to open the Divine Demise Land. Yet she dared to overestimate herself, dared to act so rebelliously!

That woman, blinded by hatred and reason, simply deserved to die!

But...

She cannot die...

Duo Shu finally understood why, after meeting Fufeng Tianlan, his master developed a desire for death; it was all because of this...

These heart-cutting words were undeniably soul-crushing!

"But, Duo Shu, how did all these destined outcomes come to be? Why must I be born into the Shi Clan? Why am I destined to bear so much? The fate of the He Clan, the mission of the Shi Family... why is all this destined, after all?"